OneSteel Gets $64m Ahead of CarbonTax

MANUFACTURER OneSteel will receive $64 million to help it prepare for the introduction of the Federal Government's carbon tax in July.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet announced today that the advance payment had been finalised under the government's $300 million Steel Transformation Plan (STP).
OneSteel expects to receive the payment within 30 days and it will be recorded as income in the company's financial statements for fiscal 2012.

Labor finalised a similar $100 million advance to BlueScope Steel in December.
"The assistance provided to the Australian steel manufacturers will help OneSteel and BlueScope to adapt and modify their business models to ensure their long-term sustainability in a low carbon economy," Mr Combet said in a statement.

OneSteel chief executive Geoff Plummer told the stock exchange the company was "pleased with the government's interest in steel manufacturing in Australia" and welcomed the funds.

The STP, announced in July 2011, was intended to help steel makers adjust to the government's carbon tax, which will start with a fixed pollution price of $23 a tonne.

But the advance payments will also help OneSteel and BlueScope deal with the high Australian dollar, weak domestic demand and excess supply in international steel markers, Mr Combet said.

Labor's $300 million STP was passed by the Parliament in November alongside the 18 carbon tax bills.

OneSteel Gets $64m Ahead of CarbonTax

Carbon Tax 'alarmism' Doesn't fit Facts, Scientists Warn

SCIENTISTS from around the world, including the former head of Australia's National Climate Centre, are calling for calm on global warming, saying alarmist rhetoric is not backed by evidence and is being used to increase taxes.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the 16 scientists say a "large and growing number" of scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic action on global warming is needed. "The number of scientific 'heretics' is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts," they say. "Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now."